Do you remember what your parents advised you to study? What they said would be a wise choice for you to get a job afterwards? I was told several times that studying business was the only right choice. Everything else was a waste of time. My father always believed that creative jobs are the ultimate path to poverty. He was probably worried I would become a starving artist if I followed my curiosity and dedicated my time to my creative drive. (I'm glad I studied interior architecture anyway.)

I learned quickly about the differences between art and commercial art. I listened up when people talked about the internet. And I started to seek out ways to capitalise creativity. Because I believed that there is a way to be creative in the day to day and still have a fridge filled with awesome stuff.

Most of you joined me on my journey after I published This Year Will Be Different to better understand what it takes to go freelance. Once I learned to walk the freelance path, I figured I needed to follow Christine’s advice and learn how to diversify my income streams to feel more stable in the situation I built for myself. Suddenly, I was saying “yes” to just about any offer that came my way. “Monika, do you want to sell stock images?” “Sure!” “Monika, would you like to do a Skillshare class?” “Why not?” I knew after the disastrous video I published to get my book funded on Kickstarter earlier this year, I had to try to tape myself again.

Freelancing started to feel like a game and I started to feel like a creative ninja. Yes, I too was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan, but that's besides the point. Thanks to my great clients, I’ve had the freedom to invest time in things I knew would never work out immediately. I started investing time and whenever people asked me what I did, I said I was playing; I was playing the freelance game.

In the last couple of months, I’ve learned a lot about the possibilities that are there for everyone to make money through their creativity. The idea for a second book was born! This time, it’s explaining how different freelancers turned their creativity into a business with multiple income streams. So far, I've talked to a writer, a language teacher, a graphic designer, and soon, I’m also having an interview with a letterer! (Yes, you can make money writing pretty fonts.)

If everything goes as planned, "My Creative (Side) Business" will be live on Kickstarter in January. So that’s one piece of good news! The other is that my Skillshare class is finally online. If you would like to tap into freelancing and prefer audio over reading, or if you would just like to see how I am “in person" (…and what weird pronunciation mistakes I make), then follow this link or click on the image below.

I cannot wait to see your Freelancer's manifesto uploaded to Skillshare!